Rabbi attends service for MH-17 victims

President of the Organisation of Rabbis of Australasia, Rabbi Meir Shlomo Kluwgant stood in the rain outside Melbourne’s St Patrick’s Cathedral as a memorial service was held for those who perished on the ill-fated Malaysian flight MH17.

Victorian Premier Denis Napthine and Rabbi Mair Shlomo Kluwgant

The Prime Minister of Australia Mr Tony Abbot had declared Thursday 7 August 2014 as a national day of mourning for the victims of MH17.

Among the nearly 300 casualties were 38 Australians.

Rabbi Meir Shlomo Kluwgant offered the condolences and sympathies of the religious leadership of the Australian Jewish Community to senior parliamentarians and surviving family members prior to the memorial event. A special request was received from the Prime Minister’s office for a message from ORA (the Organisation of Rabbis of Australasia) which appeared on electronic display at the memorial event alongside prayers and messages from world leaders.

Rabbi Kluwgant’s message was: ‘How deeply tragic and troubling it is to learn of this senseless loss of life. The grief and the pain being experienced by families and loved ones must be beyond description.

How moving it is that all Australians have been so united in their grief and so deeply touched by this horrible event.

The Religious Leadership of the Australian Jewish Community expresses its deepest sympathies. We pray along with all Australians today, that the Almighty comfort all those who are grief stricken and wipe away their tears.

May we all know only goodness and kindness from this day forward.”

Rabbi Kluwgant said that it was a sad day, with grief being shared by all Australians.

“I only hope that the surviving family members found some measure of comfort and peace from the tremendous display of support of sympathy from the entire Australian community” said Rabbi Kluwgant.

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